Chapter 3: Song of the Dream

"Tonight when I fall asleep
Come sneaking into my dreams
If I could pass all my nights like that with you
I wouldn't want anything more..."

~Yume no Uta (Dream Song) by Koda Kumi~

It had become his routine. By day, he will let the doctors examine him, hoping all the while that there was still something wrong with him so that he will not be discharged from the hospital yet. Not yet. And by night time, when only the night shift nurses and doctors were on standby and that was when he will leave his room to see her.

It had already been two days since he poured his heart out to the sleeping beauty. Two days since he admitted both to her and to himself that he was protecting her for a reason far more than just her being the Vice Foreign Minister, for a reason that he himself still had to figure out.

He had been visiting her every night for the past five nights ever since he gained consciousness. It had become his routine to see her, to watch over her, to wait for her, to be the first one to know if she ever woke up. He had been like this for days, but why was it still hard for him to enter her room now? Why did it sting to stand outside her door?

Heero Yuy was and still is the Perfect Soldier. He had never known fear all his life, even death itself. That was why he abhorred the alien feeling invading his senses right now. This new feeling scared him. For the first time in his life, he feared the Angel of Death. He feared the Angel's advent to take her away. Moreover, he feared of what will become of him when that happens.

Peace will be shattered, that was what he kept on telling himself before surrendering his heart two nights ago. He feared her death because of its consequences to the peace in the Earth Sphere Unified Nations. But deep down inside of him, he tried to deny the possible damage to his life that her death may bring.

So he mustered his courage once more to face her. He was never a religious person. He did not believe in anyone and in anything. But this time he found himself asking whoever deity there was in the sky to bring her consciousness back. That was all he asked for.

When he entered the room, he had expected to see her lying form on the mattress illuminated by the moonlight from outside just like what he usually witnessed when he visited her.

Tonight, there was none. She was gone.

"I never thought you'd be here."

Heero narrowed his eyes and was on full alert when he eyed the familiar figure who spoke, seated beside Relena's vacant hospital bed. "Where is she?"

"Apparently not in here." The man did not move nor looked at Heero's direction.

Heero felt a chill run through his body at the man's response. He took a few steps closer to the man, recognizing its platinum blond hair, tall stature, and familiar voice. "Zechs, what's going on? I thought you were in Mars."

The older gentleman sighed as he coolly looked out the window. "I was called. So I returned."

Heero's blood started to boil. "Where is she?" He commanded harder than he had intended. Something was wrong; he could sense it. Relena was not on her bed, and her older brother was called to return to Earth? Something was indeed wrong.

Milliardo Peacecraft ignored Heero's question once more. "Heero, let me ask you. How do you think of my sister?"

The question took Heero aback. Why was Zechs suddenly asking this? And how was he to answer that question? He was confused himself.

When Heero did not reply, Milliardo finally looked at him. "Back then, aboard the Libra. You infiltrated our base to free her, didn't you? It was not to confront me but to rescue her. Wasn't it?"

Milliardo stood up and faced Heero. He wore a white collared shirt and tight leather pants underneath a beige trench coat. "And then you came here even when you're fully capable of leaving the hospital now despite your bandaged state."

Heero's silence was Milliardo's cue to continue speaking authoritatively. "I don't know how much history you've had with my sister during the war. Noin can only mention some of the heroic stunts you did for Sanc Kingdom in 195. But whatever they are, you better leave now and forget about Relena."

Milliardo's last words infuriated the former Gundam pilot. "What brought this on, Zechs? Where is she? What happened to her?" Heero's voice rose in volume as he clenched his fist, trying to contain his temper and fear of what might have happened to Relena.

"She flat-lined," said Milliardo flatly as he stared at Heero intently for his reaction. And he briefly saw the shock on the Perfect Soldier's eyes before it returned to its usual stern gaze.

"You think I'm joking?" asked Milliardo when Heero said nothing. "I don't joke around, Heero. She's in the ICU. The doctors are doing what they can to revive her. She's gone."

This time, Milliardo's features softened. "Save yourself from this, Heero. Leave."

No. Of all things, Heero was not a coward. No, he will not leave. He promised her he will be there when she wakes up. And she will wake up, Heero convinced himself as he tried to ignore the alien feeling again. You can't give up, Relena. "I will not leave."

"You leave me with no choice." In one swift movement, Milliardo's fist collided with Heero's stomach with immense force, making the former Gundam pilot lose consciousness. "This is for the best."

White. Everything was white. All he can see was white. And all he can hear was deafening silence.

Where am I? thought Heero.

Heero Yuy sat up and surveyed his surroundings. White. Nothing else was there. Am I dead? It can't be. Can it? I should be.

He pressed a palm against his forehead and tried to recall what happened. Before anything else entered his mind, he heard footsteps coming from behind him. The former Gundam pilot did not bother to turn around to see who it was. Whoever it was, he did not care whether it be an enemy or "friend." Suddenly he hoped that it was someone who will take his life away.

The footsteps grew even louder indicating that whoever was behind him was at a close proximity. And then it stopped just behind him. There was silence before Heero felt the person behind him kneel down to his level.

It was unexpected when long, delicate fingers from behind him covered his eyes. Then the figure behind him spoke, "You're not supposed to be here."

Heero could have sworn that his ears betrayed him - that gentle and playful voice. It was something that he can recognize anywhere. "Relena."

"Why did you come?" She leaned on to him, close enough to whisper to his ear.

He felt her breath tickle his ear and neck. It gave him goosebumps. "You don't deserve this."

She chuckled. It was music to his ears. "Deserve what? I have everything I want here." She paused. "You came for me, didn't you? That's all that matters."

"Relena," he whispered. He lifted his hands and placed them on Relena's own ones that were covering his eyes. He wanted to see her. He wanted to turn around. But he feared that if he moved even for an inch, this hallucination or whatever it was will fade away.

Come back. He wanted to say, but the words never came out. Was this even real?

"Forgive me," he uttered.

Her fingers uncovered his eyes and settled on his shoulders instead. "For what?"

When Heero moved to turn and face her, before he knew it, he woke up and found himself lying on the hospital bed – panting. And what obscured his vision at first was the fluorescent lamp on the ceiling.

A dream?

"Heero!" exclaimed the familiar voice of Duo Maxwell.

Heero turned to his right at the source of the voice. "Duo, what happened? Where am I? What time is it?"

The braided former Gundam pilot placed his hands on the mattress. "You tell me what happened. You were breathing and sweating heavily when you were sleeping like you were having some kind of nightmare!" Outright surprise was on Duo's tone of voice.

"What?" It was a dream then? But that dream... He heard her voice. He felt her skin. Everything felt so real. No, it was far from a nightmare. Heero even considered reality was the nightmare.

"And to answer your question, it's currently 11:20 in the morning." Duo sat on the chair beside Heero's bed, and crossed his arms behind his head. "Zechs brought you here last night."

Memories of the night before came surging to Heero's mind. Now that was not a dream. "I know. He hit me."

"He hit you?" asked Duo disbelievingly.

"She flat-lined." Milliardo's voice echoed in his mind. Heero immediately sat up. Last night was not a dream. "Duo, how is Relena?"

If looks could kill, Duo felt that he might have been dead meat by now with the way Heero was looking at him. He stood up. "You're not going to like what I'm going to say."

"Tell me," commanded Heero.

"She died, Heero." And Heero swore that he had never heard Duo speak this serious ever.

No. "No," said Heero.

She felt so alive last night.

Duo breathed deeply. "Yes, she did, man."

I felt her. She can't have.

"The hell she did!" yelled Heero. He threw the bed sheet covering him and hastily got off the bed.

With his reflex, Duo grabbed Heero's arm forcefully. "She did! Listen to me, buddy. I know that it's hard. We are all sad about this..."

"She is not dead! I saw her. I felt her. I talked to her!"

"What?" Heero's words surprised Duo and he loosened his grip on his comrade. "You dreamed about her. Her spirit may have..."

"Enough!" Heero cut him off. "I have to see her."

"Why are you getting so worked up about this? If you ask me, this is so unlike you, Heero. I don't even understand why you haven't left this goddamn hospital yet!"

But of course Duo understood. He always had. He knew more than anyone just how much Heero cared for the Peacecraft princess. More than that, he knew just how capable Heero was in ruining his own life when he knew the truth of what happened to Relena. However he cannot just allow his comrade to cause a commotion brought about by a sudden burst of emotion. He will not allow that. And this was what he thought he can do to stop Heero at least for the moment. And he knew that he had hit the right spot.

"When I first met you and the princess at the port, you were about to shoot her. Had I not made it in time, you might have been the one to end her life right then and there," Duo began. "And when she transferred to our school as well, you just ignored her. Even when the Eve Wars ended, you just left. And you kept on leaving. Why do you show so much concern for her now?"

Exactly, why? Heero also asked himself. Duo was right. He had no right to correct everything the former God of Death just said. Furthermore, Milliardo Peacecraft also asked the same kind of questions last night. "Back then, aboard the Libra. You infiltrated our base to free her, didn't you? It was not to confront me but to rescue her. Wasn't it?"

Why was everyone suddenly asking him this? Was he that transparent? Did he really change? Did Relena mean to him more than just being a symbol of peace?

Before he can respond, the door suddenly burst open, and a sobbing Hilde Schbeiker entered. "She's awake! She's awake! Miss Relena made it! She's alive!"

Heero's eyes widened, relief surged thorough his body. He then felt Hilde's hands hold his. "She's alive, Heero."

Author's Note:

Sorry for the late update. But yey! Relena's alive! I apologize for this cliffie, but I want to dedicate a whole chapter for Heero and Relena's reunion. Hihi.

The whole Heero-Relena interaction here was inspired by Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children where Aerith was also telling Cloud why he came to the flower field and why he was seeking forgiveness. Some lines in this chapter were from that scene as well in Advent Children.

And if anyone's wondering why Milliardo's just in Relena's room... Remember that at the ending of the series, he just vanished and it got everyone thinking that he might have been dead. So, there. :)

Take care everyone! :) Until the next update! :)